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Kenton's Kurindans Part 1 <> Part 2 <> Part 3 <> Part 4 The Kurindans,
Part 4: Final Army Lists (12/2006)
Note: In several places, you’ll see a group of Kurindans referred to as a “rampage;” this is analogous to a Tyranid “brood” or a Space Marine “squad.” “Horde” Version
The leader of the army, !Klrt, uses the stats for a Broodlord and is represented by a Kroxigor figure. Broodlords already have great stats, so there’s little need to add biomorphs. As he counts as a Broodlord, he must take a retinue of Genestealers, represented by Temple Guard figures whose armor counts as extended carapace. While many Nid players might frown, I think it’s wise to take such a large number of guards and then make them as tough as possible. In the few games I’ve played with this army, I’ve found that !Klrt attracts an awful lot of gunfire before he makes it to the enemy lines. Having lots of well-armored guards keeps him alive until he can get stuck in, whereupon he immediately chews through squads. The first rampage of Troglodytes on Dracosaurs are Tyranid Warriors, represented on the board by two Cold One Riders and a Carnosaur. This unit’s primary role is that of a cheap HQ unit for lower-point games; with their Synapse ability, they can control the slow-moving Carnifexes and Zoanthropes. Their secondary role is to provide some shootiness, a quality Nids are sorely lacking. The Cold Ones are assumed to spew a breath weapon similar to deathspitters; the Carnosaur is a larger mutant whose breath approximates a venom cannon. While this unit will never be confused with a Space Marine Devastator Squad, two Strength 6 deathspitters and a Strength 7 venom cannon, all at BS 3, don’t suck (for proxied Tyranids, anyway).
The Hydrasaur, which uses the stats for a Carnifex with two twin-linked devourers, provides more close-range firepower. As it’s under 115 points, I can use it as an Elite unit (this becomes important when using the 3000-point list, which is similar to this one). To represent it, I use a Hydra model from the Dark Elf line of the Warhammer Fantasy game. As I’ve mentioned before, I love the Lictor’s ability to assault as soon as it Deep Strikes, so I had to have at least one in the army, represented by a Nightmare model (from the Vampire Counts line) with extra arms replacing the wings. In this list, Lizardman Saurus models (which I’ve named “Troglodytes”) stand in for Hormagaunts with toxin sacs. I love how fast Hormies are but I’m not wild about their weedy Strength 3. Sauruses look pretty big, though, so I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that all that size and muscle acts as the equivalent of toxin sacs, jacking their Strength to 4. I’d love to do the same for my Newts (maybe their weapons are coated in venom?), but I don’t have the points for it without taking out other units. So the Newts (represented by Skinks) will stay at Strength 3 and serve mostly to tie up enemy troops.
Previously, I had taken five Finbacks (Raveners represented by Salamanders) with rending claws, scything talons, and deathspitters, but I quickly realized that if I didn’t fire the ‘spitters, I could Fleet of Claw and get into close combat sooner, where Raveners naturally excel. By dropping the ‘spitters, which I probably wasn’t going to use anyway, I could afford another Ravener. This is what we call a “no-brainer.”
In earlier versions of the army, I had two rampages of Troglodytes on Dracosaurs (Tyranid Warriors represented by Cold One Riders) to provide Synapse control and some shooting ability with deathspitters. While they did okay in the Goth Girls campaign, I think they would be more effective if they were faster (to better keep up with Hormagaunts) and could contribute to close combat. Hence, I gave them wings, took away their guns, and substituted scything talons. In yet another violation of WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), I have not put wings on the models: they just wouldn’t fit or look good. I explain this away by saying that the Kurindans use two species of Dracosaurs for mounts: one species walks and can spit acid; these are used by the HQ Trogs. The other species cannot spit acid but can make huge bounding leaps, like a reptilian kangaroo; these are used by the Fast Attack Trogs. As the whole army breaks the WYSIWYG rule anyway, I’m not too pressed by breaking it again for these units. The Megasaur (below) may not be the wisest point investment, but I really wanted to use a plastic Godzilla figure that I picked up for a few dollars at a discount toy store. The Godzilla figure stands over 6" high, much bigger than any of the Lizardman figures, and makes a nice Carnifex. I painted him with a base coat of Goblin Green, inked him in Dark Green, and did his back spines in Rotting Flesh. I think he perfectly embodies the theme of the army.
In the Goth Girls campaign, my three Shamans (Zoanthropes) had the Warp Blast and Synapse abilities. Given the Broodlord and all the Warriors I can bring, more Synapse critters would probably be a waste of points, so now they only pack Warp Blasts. “Elite” Version
As mentioned, this list is much like the 2500-point version: for ease of play, I didn’t want to do anything radically different. In this version, !Klrt has some flesh hooks just to eat up a few points; I’ve added another Hydrasaur and a Lurker; I’ve also beefed up the Megasaur with an extra wound (he certainly looks big enough to justify having it). The big difference between the lists, of course, is using the Saurus models as Genestealers. I used to give each one extended carapace, which jacked up their cost to 20 points each but gave them a save vs. bolters. In the latest version, I’ve taken away the extra armor (saving 192 points) and funneled some of those savings into purchasing toxin sacs for the Hormagaunts (we’ll say the Skinks use poisoned weapons). So on the one hand, a good chunk of the army is more fragile; on the other, a good chunk of it hits much, much harder. “That’s All, Folks!”
Related Pages
Posted December 2006
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Codex <> Tactics <> Gallery <> Allies and Enemies <> Tales of the Tigers Other Pages:
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